Legolover-361

1/5. I can't recall seeing you on the forums before.

4/5. Great guitar playing. I liked all the different melody and time signature changes; they kept the eleven-minute song from becoming monotonous. The ending was a little abrupt, and I wish the section of the song with the piano weren't so fleeting, but otherwise the song's really good."Only Hope" by Switchfoot.

Hey, in case anyone's interested, I have been hosting on behalf of KanohiJournal a writing contest in the Storyline and Theories forum, Lesovikk's Hiatus. The contest, unlike its original incarnation, is fanon, likely never to be approved as canon.I recently had to extend the entry deadline to a potential late April / early May ending. In the interests of spreading the word, I am posting this here in case any of you writers have not heard of the contest and would be interested in either entering or volunteering to judge one of the categories. Velox said I could post about the contest here since this topic is meant to serve as a writing topic in general.

I think the points system is extraneous and unnecessary, but I wouldn't mind still keeping track of achievements. I'm ambivalent toward the ranks. No one uses them or really cares about them at the moment, but they could be adjusted to fit with a non-point-based system of achievements: e.g. based on the number of achievements you've earned rather than your sum of points. (The less math involved in the Ambage, the better, right?) I've never competed in a Fortnightly Flash Fiction Contest, but I like the list of prizes. I say we should keep them.

Wow, that model is fantastic. I was always glad LEGO introduced the new Hero Factory building system, but that model is solid proof that the new system has just as much potential as any other Technic system.

Thanks. The head is made using a standard Hero Factory lower limb piece as the base; I placed a Rahkshi head (with a normal, translucent orange socket joint) on the end and placed another socket, with a couple Bohrok teeth attached, on the center ball joint. It doesn't look much like a bat's head, but I didn't know what else to do, and it's a decent head design by itself.

IC: KynaeraMorningNokama's hut, Ga-KoroKynaera, it seemed, was the second of the Toa Arete to arrive.She approached, draped in her cloak, like the shadow of a passing cloud so that no one noticed her till she was in their midst. Slipping amongst the Matoran like a serpent betwixt stones, she approached the beautiful coffin with her most reverent behavior and inclined her head to both Nokama, enclosed within her final resting place, and to the Captain of the Guard.Only her mind was privy to the hint of dissonance in her thoughts:Why go to such lengths to adorn a container of the dead?And then her thoughts went to Dorian, who had disappeared and still not returned, so she ceased her introspection lest any pain reveal itself in her features.She moved to stand beside Ketan and withdrew her hood from her face so her Kanohi's forehead caught the sunlight and gleamed. If Ketan appeared regal, Kynaera seemed queenly: royal purple atop black under-armor, her cloak shifting slightly in the wind, her gaze steady and her pose likewise.Solemnity had long ago ceased to be an emotion Kynaera exhibited: It was now her default state of mind.

Entry Name: The Furmidible Man-BatEntry Pic URL: Heyo!Topic URL: BBCC 64: The Furmidible Man-Bat

From the shadows of a dark alley grows an extension of the gloom. It takes form as it steps forth, the silhouettes of limbs and a head sharpening. Wings blossom from the shadow's back. Red eyes open. Claws flex. A short screech rebounds off the concrete.Man-Bat is come. Front | Side | Back | Pose In brief: The Furmidible Man-Bat is the first MOC I have completed in months. It's not my best MOC, but the fact that I don't hate it must mean I'm recovering from my building slump. Man-Bat is also the first MOC I've made that incorporates both Bionicle and Hero Factory pieces in a single form. My biggest criticism would be that the wings don't emulate a bat's well enough (I personally blame a shortage of parts, but you're free to interpret the shortcoming however you choose).Thank you in advance for any comments, constructive critiques, and votes that may come my way.

Because BZPower was down during the last day of entry due to the hacking, is the entry period extended to tonight, or am I out of luck?

I would like to make clear something some of you may not have realized since my latest post:You are now allowed to create profiles for thief characters and / or kidnapping victims. Please don't assume how the gang works, because I already know roughly how it works, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try interacting with, say, some higher-ups.

GM ICNighttimeCave, north of Olford, in the middle of a barren mountain rangeEchoes: shouts, dancing, laughter. They were faint, but to the practiced ear of the guard situated in the cave mouth, Lori, they were too distinguishable.The others, he supposed, were drinking again. Partying. Probably verbally abusing the few kidnapping victims who hadn't joined the gang. He wondered offhand if the gang's prisoners were glad to be protected by the bars of their cages."Lor?"Lori released his concentration on his Volitak. "Here, Ekko. Switch time?""Yeah." The Skakdi, noticeably less limber than his Toa of Shadow companion, took a seat by Lori's position under the shadow beside the cave opening. "Honestly, I'm glad to be outta there. Dunno what they're thinking to accomplish. There's nothing to celebrate.""Let them have their fun," Lori responded. "It'll bite them in the back sooner or later, and then they'll realize.""Yeah. Right. What'll happen to us?"Lori paused, considering. "There are a lot of possibilities," he said diplomatically.Ekko scoffed. "That's not a proper answer.""Do you want one?""Not really. It'd probably make me wanna drink."Lori nodded and disappeared back into the cave. Ekko remained, looking at the stars with an expression oddly thoughtful for a Skakdi's.* * *The cave's entrance tunnel was long and winding, its walls artificially smooth. Lori proceeded till he reached a fork, directed his path down the right-hand tunnel (the louder of the two) and rounded a sharp bend to the right, emerging into the glow of his gang's current cavern home.The walls were spread apart a comfortable distance, yet the beings between those walls filled the empty space. A chorus of off-tune voices rose in a drinking song; the answering choir was, if possible, even more grating on Lori's audio receptors.He grimaced and slunk along the edge of the cavern to one of the sleeping rooms in the rear. His was shared with three other guards -- Ekko, a Glatorian who only called himself "Hunter", and a Bone Hunter -- but currently the room was empty.Lori lay on the bed in the farthest corner from the doorway and, for the umpteenth time, wished he wore a Kanohi Shelek.

I figured my soon-to-be entry would pale in comparison to the other MOCs in this contest, and I was right! On the bright side, I at least managed to build a MOC; I'll wait till tomorrow to upload photos and enter.

Q1: What is your favorite section of the Library? Any specific reasons why?My favorite Library subforum is definitely Short Stories, mainly because the stories aren't too long and don't require days to read and analyze, and because writing a short story isn't as painstaking as writing an epic. I don't mean to portray myself as lazy; I just think Short Stories is a nifty little subforum overall.Q2: Least favorite subforum?I don't really want to go with the flow and say Comedies, but the forum has never really attracted me due to the fact that very few works I read took themselves seriously at all. I don't mean to judge every comedy author, because I haven't visited the forum recently and am not familiar with how it is currently faring, but I think the somewhat blurry barrier separating a humorous short story from a serious comedy is one of the causes behind some of the more ridiculous narratives in the Comedies forum.I will say that I have read good comedies, though, and that I don't mind some of the more ridiculous ones. I'm not even annoyed by the script comedy format per se, only its perceived overuse (which, again, may have changed since I last frequented the forum).Q3: Should the entire Library have a 300 word count minimum? Why or why not?I don't think the entire Library should have a three hundred word count minimum. First, good flash fiction can fall under that word limit; second, poetry is often quite short, and I wouldn't want the Library to discourage short poems.Q4: Should comedies be merged with the rest of the Library? Why or why not?If Comedies were merged with the rest of the library, we would enter a scenario where ridiculous stories and serious stories coexist in the same sub-forum, which means readers would have to dig through one sort to find the other.Q5: What are your favorite themes to write about? Do you feel there are some that could be better expressed through your writing without the influence of Bionicle?I'm particularly attracted to writing grim stories and bittersweet endings. I base a lot of my stories on such vague concepts as hope, loss, desire, and moral conflict; I rarely flirt with romance (pun unintended), and when I do include it in a story, it's generally restricted to a background role.Writing Bionicle fan-fiction never inhibited my ability to write -- in fact, it fostered it to the point where I now try my hand at original fiction -- so while I would have more freedom writing original fiction above some of the aforementioned themes, I don't think any of them would be too diluted if I wrote a good piece of Bionicle fan-fiction.Q6: How often do you tend to post stories? How often do you review stories?At the moment, I'm quite inactive both writing- and reviewing-wise.Q7: Have you ever made use of the critics clubs? Do you often find them helpful?I think the critics clubs, altogether, seem quite helpful. I've asked the critics club for Short Stories for reviews a few times in the past and received sound critiques; even the couple of charity reviews I've garnered when the Short Stories Critics Club felt generous were well-written and helpful.Q8: Ambage is the newest writing club that has been inserted into Short Stories forum. It's a community of writers attempting to help each other, and holds flash fiction writing contests. Do you think something very similar to that should be made for the Epics forum? Maybe also for Comedies? Why or why not?As a member of the Ambage, I must say it's a fun group to have joined. Its goal is to encourage writing, and I think the writing prompts it releases and the contests it runs help it attain that goal.I do not think organizations similar to the Ambage should be established for the Comedies and Epics forums for the simple reason that the Ambage is intended to span the entire collection of Library sub-forums and the new Off-Topic Culture forum: It is an organization about writing in general, not just writing short stories.Q9: Who are your favorite authors on BZP? Do you feel any specific ones inspire you more than others?There are quite a few authors whose skills with prose I particularly admire: Takuta-Nui, Tolkien, Aderia, GSR, Rising Moon... the list continues, I'm sure, though at the moment I forget the usernames that continue it.The second part of this question I will answer below, as it and question ten are linked in my mind.Q10: What are your favorite stories on BZP?As I remember, my first big influence on BZPower was Takuta-Nui's [Etymology] series (linked here because of coding issues). It was very thoughtful science fiction whose concise writing style and ethereal plots kept me hooked. I consider the [Etymologies] a big component of my writing inspiration at the time.The next BZPower work of significant size to really enthrall me was an epic generally ignored by reviewers (though, funnily enough, followed by Takuta-Nui): What If?, by Toa Auserv, an epic detailing quite brilliantly the labors that must be done to correct a timeline. Sadly, I don't think the epic has been finished.One of the first story spotlights I remember seeing on the front page, a short story penned by Tolkien and entitled Despair, is one of the best short stories I've read on BZPower.Q11: Do you feel the activity of the Library has decreased recently? How do you think it could be increased?I can't answer this question due to being generally unfamiliar with Library activity. I certainly think my activity in the Library could be increased (A.K.A. brought up from zero).Q12: Do you think that Round-Robin writing should be allowed? Why or why not?I don't think round robins should be allowed due to their danger of becoming too sporadic, but I think its closest legal analogue, improvising chapters with minimal inter-writer plotting, is fine.Q13: Do you think there are a sufficient amount of Library-related questions here? Why or why not?I think there were plenty of questions to answer.

IC: CorinthiaAfternoonStarbucks; Alameda, CA"Cool." The last of her papers was stuffed into the haphazard arrangement of books in her backpack; she slung the pack over her shoulder and smiled at Dallas as she stood up. "So, uh... where d'you want to go? Like, a park? We could walk or something..."

I wish I could have contributed to the anthology, but till some future date when I can participate, I offer my congratulations! I hope the compilation sells well (provided it's written well, naturally ).

GM IC: Turaga TahuEarly afternoonPanel HQ, Central City"I'd rather not one of us be absent from too many Panel meetings, Lewa," said Tahu. "One thing of which I'm certain is that video surveillance will be necessary. We need people stationed nearby to stop Professor Kora -- someone who has not betrayed our trust yet -- in the unlikely event that he does try to cut and run with the Olmak; I'm not sure a Turaga could do that properly, so I suppose we would need guards."

Three songs, actually (though I thought there were more while I was listening, lol). I don't think Kids in the Street would have made either of my lists anyway, though.

I suppose talking about dumb luck looked good while I was writing it but isn't quite as sound when you examine it closer.I will point out, however, that the decision to launch the capsule by itself was a last-minute change after the generator screwed up. The original plan was for the entire spaceship to make the dimension-hop; Nielson decided to deattach the capsule because less mass would mean less energy required for the hop. I like that sort of concept, but I didn't intend for this story to be anything more than a couple people fighting against fate. No environmental message, no political message, just impending doom and how people can deal with it.I based Eternity upon the theory that, one day, the last star in our universe will die and leave nothing behind save for debris floating in eternal darkness -- and that, thus, humanity's only way of surviving beyond the effective death of our universe would be to migrate to another. I can't recall thinking too much about the rescue ship. As I best remember, I intended for the rescue starship to only be a temporary solution: After all, without any outside sources of power, it will only sustain human life for a little while before it, too, goes dark. Because I, silly as I am, apparently forgot that their planet was named "Iris" instead of "Earth". Thanks a lot for your in-depth review. I'm glad you enjoyed the story, and I'll try to keep your feedback in mind (especially should I ever write another sci-fi apocalypse story).

GM IC: GeologistEarly afternoonMining Shaft Beta, Olford"Huh. Odd."The words were almost inaudible. Troma turned from his collection of sediment off the walls of the cavity and to fellow Agori Panaka. "What's odd?" he asked."I just dated the wall of the cavity." Panaka wasn't looking at Troma; he had stopped digging past the initial level of minerals to what lay behind. "I figured I ought to test the dirt around it so we can tell how old this cavity is compared to the minerals around it. And, uh... apparently this cavity is, well, older than the surrounding material."A second passed before Troma comprehended the statement. "Wait. Older?""Yeah." Panaka finally turned to face Troma, though his absentminded expression suggested his mind was elsewhere. "I don't think a geological event could have caused this. Maybe a Toa of Stone could have, but then, how could that Toa have escaped afterward? And, uh" -- here a prick of discomfort disrupted Troma's emotionlessness -- "if this was self-imposed starvation... we ought to have found a body. Besides which, how could a Toa of Stone have accelerated this portion of stone's aging?""Yeah. So...""...so, we need to tell our superiors."A pause. Panaka didn't move. Troma abruptly realized why. "Oh.""Yeah, Troma, could you do that while I double-check my info?""Most certainly, High Lord Panaka," Troma replied with a mocking bow. "In fact, I'll grab you a sandwich on the way.""I'm not hungry.""It was a joke."Troma clambered out the hole connecting the cavity to the mining shaft beside it before Panaka had a chance to say anything else.

I've acquired a lot of music since I last posted here, including my first legitimate rap album (Gravity): [*]No Name Face by Lifehouse[*]Cold Hard Want by House of Heroes[*]The Legend of Chin by Switchfoot[*]Nothing Left to Lose and City of Black & White by Mat Kearney[*]Gravity by Lecrae[*]Fiction Family Reunion by Fiction Family[*]The Valley by Eisley

An announcement: Please welcome Krayzikk to our list of staff! No, it's not because of his post above mine -- I gave him the chance to join Loophole's staff a while ago -- but because we needed help to run the plot that I'm currently trying to kickstart.